


Choe the Zookeeper

by ch1ps0h0y



Category: Psycho-Pass
Genre: Alternate Universe - Animals, F/F, Fluff and Crack, M/M, Zoo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-15
Updated: 2013-07-15
Packaged: 2017-12-20 06:26:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/883997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ch1ps0h0y/pseuds/ch1ps0h0y
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Choe Gu-Sung is used to seeing strange things at the zoo he works at, so he thinks that nothing can surprise him any more. How wrong he is.</p>
<p>(A short, crack fic set in an alternate universe where Choe is a zookeeper and the cast are birds.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Choe the Zookeeper

Choe was used to seeing strange things at the zoo he worked at. Animals exhibited the oddest behaviours when they thought people weren't looking - some animals even did odd things when they _knew_ people were looking. Take the primates for example: last month, the baboons had banded together to throw bananas at their keeper during public feeding time. Choe hadn't managed to catch a glimpse of his co-worker before they'd closeted themselves in the shower, but he'd seen the yellow footprints left behind in the staff room.

So yes, he was thankful not to be working with creatures that had as much penchant for mischief as humans did for violence. _His_ charges were the much more sensible (although flighty) birds. His particular favourite? The peafowl.

Two years ago, they had adopted a white Indian peacock from a zoo that had been forced to shut down and sell its animals. Even after a brief, uncomfortable transition period, Shougo (that was the name Choe had given the bird) had not managed to fit in as well as he liked. It seemed as if their existing peahens shunned him despite several magnificent displays of his snowy feathers. Choe often felt sorry for the peacock as it paced around its side of the enclosure, avoiding the peahens that were so utterly dismissive of him.

"You are beautiful, you know," Choe told Shougo one day during feeding time. The white peacock was happy to come right up to him and eat from his hand; the peahens preferred the grains he laid out in the hanging trays. He liked birds because they had a way of looking at you like they knew something that you didn't. Shougo was no exception. He fixed Choe with dark eyes as if to say, "I already know I'm beautiful," allowed Choe to stroke his neck a few times, and then strutted off.

"Even so," Choe said with a sigh as he straightened, "we need to find you a mate."

 

Not a few weeks after having that thought, one of the zoos from up north contacted them about a transfer of animals for breeding purposes. Choe managed to put in a request for a peahen and, happily, it was accepted by the head of the breeding program. There wasn't a guarantee that the peahen from the other zoo would be interested in Shougo, but he had to try.

About two weeks later, after they had prepared and shipped off their own creatures, the animals from the other zoo started arriving.

Choe volunteered to help settle them in. The smaller, common animals had arrived first, but Choe didn't have time to look at the peahen that had been sent. He left her with his co-workers at the aviary and went back to help unload the rest of the animals. But by the time all the animals had been settled in, it was getting dark and he didn't have time for more than a passing glance at the shadowy peafowl enclosure before he left. The peahen had been separated from the others and looked to be sleeping, so he headed home feeling optimistic about tomorrow.

When he arrived at the zoo early the next morning, his optimism plummeted.

It hadn't been a pea _hen_ that the other had sent. It had been a pea _cock_.

Choe stared at the male bird as it explored its new surroundings and peered curiously through the chicken wire at the other birds. How could he have missed the elongated tail feathers? Had a clerical error been made that caused them to send a male peafowl rather than female? He double-checked with the head of the breeding program, who confirmed that it wasn't a clerical error but a calculated decision to find another male suitable for the females they had. Choe had often complained about their disinterest in the one male they had, so they'd decided a new male was needed.

He could see the sense in their logic, so he bit back the disappointment he felt as he returned to the peafowl enclosure.

The name of their loaned peacock was 'Shinya'. To an objective eye, Shinya was undeniably a handsome specimen. Shimmering, iridescent feathers made for a vivid blue display down neck and breast, and the speckled pattern on his wings was a beautiful complement. Choe could only imagine how his tail feathers would look when displayed.

Shougo, perhaps sensing his keeper's attention wandering away from his white plumage and towards the stranger's, pecked his fingers during feeding time later that day and strutted off a little more stiffly than usual.

Since he couldn't place two peacocks in the same enclosure without risking them fighting, he had to isolate Shougo before he introduced Shinya to the peahens in the main enclosure. Shougo did not like this idea one bit and refused to be led into the space formerly inhabited by his rival. He had made this place his territory and he wasn't going to be usurped by a foreign visitor.

As Choe tried and failed to coax the white peacock to the other side, Shinya came strutting over.

_Oh, no, no, no! How did he-?_ Choe glanced over to the fenced-off space where Shinya had been temporarily placed, but the door was firmly locked. Had Shinya _flown_ over the three-metre-high fences?!

Apparently he had. The male peacock looked entirely too smug with himself as he approached them, turning his head this way and that and showing off the colours of his plumage. Shougo eyed his rival unfavourably and warbled a warning. Choe glanced between them, unsure if stepping between them to try and head off the fight would be a good idea - peacocks could and would fight to the death if need be, but who knew what they would do if someone tried to interfere in their battle for dominance.

But then, something he never expected to see happened.

Shinya shook out his tail, displaying them in a wide fan that forced the zookeeper to step back. Choe had been right about one thing: the male blue peacock's feathers were as exquisite as the rest of his plumage had implied they would be. Each eye shimmered as they turned towards the light, browns, greens, and blues all coming together in a way that made it a tireless feast for the eyes.

The peahens, in their corner, had seen the display and turned towards the new male with keen interest. Though Shinya fluttered his feathers and turned a slow, full circle typical of the peacock's mating dance, he didn't seem interested in the peahens so much as Shougo.

And Shougo, much to Choe's surprise, had stopped acting hostile towards the other peacock. The white male watched the display, shifting restlessly and looking as if he wanted to back away. Choe had to confess he had no idea what was going on, but if this was some display of superiority that he hadn't seen before then it was working very well. But then, after a few moments, the white peacock also shook out his magnificent snowy feathers and began to shyly match the dance.

Choe watched the two peacocks incredulously. Was he really watching two male peafowl courting each other?

As the two birds approached each other and began to groom, Choe dragged a hand down his face and started to laugh. Quietly at first, but then increasing in volume as he came to terms with this unexpected turn of events.

Shougo, apparently finding the laughter mocking, put down his tail abruptly with an offended warble and quickly strutted off into the enclosure that Choe had been trying to get him into since that morning. Shinya also looked huffy, shooting the zookeeper the bird equivalent of a withering glare before following suit.

 

So that was how Choe found a mate for Shougo, albeit not in the way that he had expected. He kept the knowledge of his peacocks' leanings to himself, wrote up the breeding attempt as 'unsuccessful', but asked if they could keep the peacock and send one of their peahens back as a replacement.

Thankfully, they accepted. They hoped to pair some females with their growing male bird. Choe lingered to say goodbye to the peahen before she was taken away, crouching by the cage to smile reassuringly at her.

"Be good, Yayoi. Try not to peck the other girls too much, all right?"


End file.
